Process of forming concrete piles.



No. f7-33,3%.

UNITED 'STATES Patented July 7, 190e.

PATENT OFFICE.

PROCESS OF FORMING CONCRETE PILES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 733,337, dated July 7,1903.

Original application tiled April 23,1 1903, Serial No.153,974 Dividedand this application led June 6,1903; Serial No.160,354. (No model.)

5;"0 all whom, ihm/ty concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK SHUMAN, a citizen ofthe United States,residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in the Process of Forming Concrete Piles, (the same being adivision of my application, Serial No. 153,974, iiled April 23, 1903,)of which the following is a specification.

illy invention relates to that method of forming piles of concrete orcement which consists in first driving a preparatory pile into theground and then withdrawing said preparatory pile and lling the openingformed thereby with concrete or cement in iiuid or plastic form, whichwhen it becomes set forms the permanent pile.

The object of my invention is to ll the openings with concrete or cementin a more acceptable manner than heretofore, and thereby produce abetter pile.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional view illustratingthe method of forming the openingiu the ground by means of thepreparatory pile in accordance withl my invention; and Figs. 2, 3, and 4are views illustrating successive stages in the formation of thepermanent pile in accordance with my invention.

The preparatory pile l is in the form of a metal tube and is provided atthe top with a suitable driving-head 2 and at the bottom with a point 3,which is detachable from the pile `l and is in the present instance ofso much greater diameter than said pile l that there is no likelihood ofthe latter coming in contact to any material extent with the walls ofthe opening formed by driving the pile. Hence said pile can be drivenwithout that excessive friction which results from the contact of theearth with the sides of the pile when the latter is of cylindrical formor tapers inwardly from the top to bottom, the improved pile being alsocapable of easy withdrawal, owing to the fact that the point 2 ispermitted to remain at the bottom of the opening and the pile l is freefrom any material contact with the walls of the opening above saidpoint.

After the hollow pile has been driven to the proper depth the concreteis poured into the same, and when a sufficient quantity has accumulatedat the bottom of the pile and above the point said pile is withdrawneither slowly and continuously or intermittently, a little at a time,and during such withdrawal the supply of concrete to the interior of thepile is continued, so that the concrete will escape into the openingabove the point, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, until by the time thepile l is completely withdrawn the opening will be filled with concrete.

The concrete is introduced into the hollow pile at such a rate as toalways maintain a head of concrete at the bottom of 'the same, so thatin case the opening is formed in wet ground or beneath the water-levelthe water can gain no access to the interior of the hollow pile, butwill be displaced upwardly as the concrete escapes from the lower end ofthe pile and into the opening. By this means caving in of the walls ofthe opening when the latter is formed in unstable ground is etfectuallyprevented and the concrete pile when it becomes set is a homogeneousstructure possessing all needed strength.

The point can be made of anydesired shape and of wood, cast or wroughtiron, steel, glass, asphaltum, concrete, or combinations of the same,or, in fact, of any material which will withstand the shock of driving,preference being given to a point made of concrete, which may, ifdesired, be sheathed with sheet metal, except at the top, or internallyreinforced to strengthen it, as the plastic con crete of which the pileis composed will take a better hold upon such concrete point than upon ametal or other point not affording so good a holding-surface.

This method of forming the concrete pile may be adopted in connectionwith the use of any hollow preparatory pile open at the bottom for theescape of the concrete therefrom as the preparatory pile is withdrawn,said hollow pile being introduced by driving, sinking, or in any otheravailable manner.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patentl. The method of forming concrete piles, which consists inproviding a hollow pile, sinking the said pile into the ground to form ahole, and then slowly or intermittently withdrawing the pile, fillingthe hole with con- IOO crete during such withdrawal, and then permittingthe concrete to set, substantially as specified.

2. The method of forming concrete piles, which v consists in providing ahollow pile having a detachable point, sinking said pile into the groundto form a hole, then slowly or intermittently withdrawing the pile,without its point, and filling the hole, above said point, with concreteduring such withdrawal of the pile, and permitting the concrete to set,substantially as specified.

3. The method of forming concrete piles, which consists in providing ahollow pile with an enlarged and detachable point, sinking said pileinto the ground to form a hole larger than the pile-stem, then slowly orintermittently withdrawing the pile, without its point, and filling thehole above said point, with concrete during such withdrawal of the pile,and then permitting the concrete to set, substantially as specified.

4. The method of forming concrete piles, which consists -in providing ahollow pile with ing the pile, without the point, and filling the holeabove said point, with concrete during such Withdrawal, and thenpermitting the concrete to set, substantially as specified;

5. The method of forming piles, which oon; sists in providing a hollowpile with an en; larged and detachable concrete point, sink# ing saidpile into the ground to form a hole larger than the pile-stein, thenslowly or intermittently withdrawing the pile, Without the point, andfilling the hole, above said point, with concrete during suchwithdrawal, and then permitting the concrete to set, substantially asspecified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

v FRANK SHUMAN.

Witnesses:

F. E. BECHTOLD, WILL. A. BARR.

